Numerous padlock constructions have been developed and are widely employed by individuals to prevent unauthorized persons from gaining access to any particular item or area which has been closed and locked. Although many locks are constructed to be opened by a key, numerous combination lock constructions have been developed which are opened by knowledge of a particular combination.
One particular type of combination lock that has become very popular due to its ease and convenience of use is a combination lock which employs a plurality of rotatable independent dials, each of which forms one of the indicia, usually numerals or letters, which comprise the combination for releasing the lock. Typically, the combination lock has one mode or position in which the user is able to set or reset the desired combination sequence. Although locks of this general nature have been available for several decades and have been constructed in a wide variety of forms and shapes, these prior art combination lock constructions suffer from common deficiencies which have not been successfully overcome.
Although many manufacturers have attempted to solve the problems associated with rotatable dial or combination locks, one principal difficulty and drawback these prior art constructions have been unable to overcome is a construction which assures the user that a preset combination will not be accidentally or inadvertently altered or changed, without the user's knowledge. In such instances when the known combination is unknowingly changed or altered without the user's knowledge, the entire combination lock is incapable of future use, since the user is typically unable to release the shackle from locked engagement with the housing.
In addition, although key operated locks do not suffer from the difficulty of having the combination changed or altered without the user's knowledge, users are frequently incapable of using key operated locks, due to the key being lost or misplaced. As a result, prior art key operated locks are also frequently discarded due to the user's inability to find a particular key for operating the lock.
Another common problem which has consistently plagued prior art constructions is the cost of construction for producing and assembling prior art padlocks, whether the padlock is key operated or combination operated. In order to attain a padlock which provides all of the features desired by consumers, prior art constructions typically incorporate numerous small components, each of which require expensive assembly procedures to produce the final product. As a result, these prior art lock constructions are expensive to produce, thereby reducing the ability of these locks to reach a broad base of consumers.
Another problem commonly found with prior art padlocks is the inability of these prior art constructions to prevent contaminants from reaching the rotatable, internal component of the lock, thereby causing damage to these components or interfering with the ease of operating the lock by an individual who either knows the actual combination or has the activating key. Although numerous attempts have been made to reduce the adverse effects caused by contaminants reaching these components, such attempts have been incapable of completely eliminating in this problem.
A final, still further difficulty, which has recently arisen and affects both combination locks and key operated locks, is a requirement that all secured locks must be broken by Customs officers, and/or inspection or security personnel in order to gain access to luggage which is deemed suspicious. Under new security regulations that has been implemented, all luggage must be scanned or inspected to prevent the transportation of potentially dangerous items or products which are deemed to be undesirable. In those instances when luggage is scanned and further visual inspection is required, the inspectors have the authority to open the luggage for visual inspection, including physically breaking any lock which may be on the luggage.
Consequently, with these new regulations presently implemented, all prior art lock systems which are incapable of being opened by inspectors and/or security personnel are subject to be physically broken, in order to gain access to any luggage which needs to be visually inspected. As a result, consumers will now be faced with the possibility that any lock system employed to protect the contents of a suitcase can be physically removed by security personnel, leaving the luggage completely unprotected during the remainder of the trip.
In addition, although some prior art locks do provide a dual locking system for enabling security personnel to gain access to the lock, when necessary, a further problem has been created. In this regard, consumers wish to know when security personnel have opened their luggage in order to gain access to the interior thereof. Since the dual locking systems enable security personnel to open the luggage, inspect the contents, and reclose and lock the suitcase, consumers have no knowledge as to what action, if any, has been taken by security personnel. As a result, in addition to having locks which incorporate dual locking modes, consumers also seek to have these locks incorporate an automatically initiated indicator or signal which will inform the consumer whenever the lock has been opened using the key portion of the lock.
Although some preliminary attempts to satisfy this need have been made by prior art systems, the prior art systems have been incapable of providing an easily initiated, reliable, positive indicator or signal. In particular, these prior art products fail to provide an easily seen positive indicator/signal which provide consumers with the positive notice desired. Furthermore, these prior art products are extremely complicated, requiring numerous components for achieving the end result.
In addition, many such prior art products require the consumer to input the predetermined combination into the lock in order to release the shackle for resetting the signaling device. This often requires the consumer to open their locks in areas where an observer would be able to see the combination, and use that combination to the detriment of the consumer.
Therefore, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide a padlock having a fully integrated dual locking system which also incorporates a positive indicator or signal for informing the consumer whenever the key portion of the padlock has been employed.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a padlock having the characteristic features described above which is easily produced and provides the user with complete control over the resetting of the indicator.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a padlock having the characteristic features described above which provides an indicator or signal which is highly visible and easily seen by the user.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a padlock having the characteristic features described above which enables the user to reset the indicator or signal while the lock is completely closed and locked.
Other and more specific objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.